Is “Study Buddy” really your friend?

A trend is rising among college students. Because of the stress they are constantly facing, many young men and women are turning to performance-enhancing medicines.

While most people choose coffee and energy drinks to quell their fatigue and help them focus, according to www.montana.edu, many are now using pills.

Common ADD/ADHD medications Adderall and Ritalin, were once the popular choice, but recently have been replaced with “Study Buddy.” These capsules are designed to help clear the consumer’s memory and make concentration easier.

These pills have many healthy ingredients that the human body often needs, such as Vitamin D3, Vitamin B6 and Vitamin B12. However, these cognitive enhancers also contain high amounts of caffeine, which, when mixed with other ingredients such as Vitamin B12, can be extremely harmful. These ingredients are also present in popular energy drinks, some of which are well known for causing heart problems.

In an article on Forbes.com, readers were informed that the substances used to make energy drinks can cause consumers to have irregular heartbeats and in some cases, cause death. Considering the fact that these pills are created with some of the same ingredients, students are becoming concerned about whether such things should be sold at the campus bookstore.

“Honestly, I feel pretty neutral to it,” said USM student Erin Howell. “I think the ingredients in them are harmful, but people will find a way to get their hands on it whether the bookstore sells them or not.”

There are various side effects of pills designed to help students get better grades. Some of them include nausea, vomiting and irritability. There are also chances of feeling no effect at all, especially for those that are already used to high caffeine consumption.

A lot of people who use these pills don’t realize they can affect not only the body’s physical health, but can also alter the user’s mental state. “Study Buddy” pills are advertised as medication that will assist memory and alertness. The negative effect is that it keeps the consumer awake for longer periods of time, which can result in not getting the amount of sleep everyone needs. In the long run, lack of sleep can keep the body from functioning as it normally would. As a result, taking these pills can actually hurt students’ chances of earning better grades.

While “Study Buddy” pills may or may not have a serious affect on consumers and college students, these target audiences need to be more aware of what is in them and what can happen as a result of taking them.